Strikeforce: Kedzie vs. Tate

Julie Kedzie (16-9) vs. Miesha Tate (12-3)

After losing her Strikeforce bantamweight belt in her last bout, Miesha Tate returns to the ring for a fight against Julie Kedzie.

Tate won the belt in 2011 over Marloes Coenen, but lost it in her first chance to defend it, losing via submission in the first round to Ronda Rousey. Kedzie is also coming off a defeat, to Alexis Davis, but won her two fights prior to that. Her loss to Davis was her first Strikeforce fight, after winning Jackson’s MMA series bantamweight’s belt in her previous time out over Kaitlin Young. Tate is understandably favored in this one, but Kedzie will be a tough opponent with her ability to drag fights out and bring it to the judges. Given that, play against the heavy chalk and go with KEDZIE to score an upset.

Tate was quickly submitted by MMA star Rousey in her last bout, falling via submission before the first round finished. But Tate is no chump, a former champ on this circuit at this weight class. And at 5-foot-6, she has an inch over Kedzie in this one. Her 12 career wins have come in a variety of ways, with three knockouts, five submissions and four decision victories. But as such a heavy favorite, play against.

Kedzie’s past six fights have gone to the judges, a span in which she is 4-2. While her loss to Davis was discouraging, she has shown steady improvement. She lost to Young via split decision in 2010, but earned a unanimous decision in 2011 over her. With a varied skillset that includes Taekwondo, Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, she’ll give Tate quite a challenge in this one.